July 6, 2023

The other day I came across a piece of information that puts the entire transgender craze into about as much perspective as it is ever going to require.

‘); googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1609268089992-0’); }); document.write(”); googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.pubads().addEventListener(‘slotRenderEnded’, function(event) { if (event.slot.getSlotElementId() == “div-hre-Americanthinker—New-3028”) { googletag.display(“div-hre-Americanthinker—New-3028”); } }); }); }

This is actually something I knew from years ago, but that I’d let slip thanks to a conviction that, obvious as it was, it certainly must have arisen in the debate already.

Well, it turns out that it never has, and that the transgender debate has been careening across the public square in a completely fact-free manner. Which, in light of previous debates concerning COVID, “global warming,” and radical feminism, fails to surprise me.

Gender dysphoria, which is the medical syndrome upon which the transgender movement is based, is actually one of a cluster of similar disorders. Among these is Body Integrity Dysphoria:

‘); googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1609270365559-0’); }); document.write(”); googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.pubads().addEventListener(‘slotRenderEnded’, function(event) { if (event.slot.getSlotElementId() == “div-hre-Americanthinker—New-3035”) { googletag.display(“div-hre-Americanthinker—New-3035”); } }); }); }

Body integrity dysphoria is a psychiatric condition characterized by a persistent desire to acquire physical disability (e.g., amputation, paraplegia). Body integrity dysphoria is also termed as body integrity identity disorder, amputee identity disorder, and xenomelia.

In Body Integrity Dysphoria, the victim is convinced, beyond any doubt or debate, that one or another of his bodily appendages – hands, feet, fingers, etc. – is actually an alien appendage that does not belong to him at all and is doing physical harm simply by being attached to him. No amount of argument can convince the patient that the organ in question – say, the hand – is in fact a natural element of his being, is exactly where it belongs, and should be accepted and left alone. No – that hand is harmful and it has to go. Victims typically contact one doctor after another in the hope that one will agree to amputate. Some have gone so far as to mutilate the offending member in order to force the issue, and some have attempted self-amputation, with the expected ghastly results. Most doctors, of course, refuse any such action. It was only in 1997 that the first attempt was made, by a doctor named Robert Smith, who reported good results, including patient satisfaction.

(There’s also a claim that a related disorder, apotemnophilia, exists in which individuals seek amputation for sexual gratification. It seems that most of the “evidence” for this comes from porn magazine readers’ forums, which are largely fictional – I knew several people who were making money writing “letters” for those forums back in the early 80s. Interestingly, one of the researchers pushing apotemnophilia was John Money, who also played a key role in the mainstreaming of transgenderism.)

Research has discovered that BID patients suffer from brain damage in the right hemisphere, along with abnormalities in the white matter of the brain. So the disorder is no myth. Serious treatment involves antidepressants to reduce anxiety and stress. Little can be done to rid the patient of the amputation fixation.

Comparing Gender Dysphoria to Body Integrity Dysphoria, we find:

  • A delusion that there exists a grievous flaw in an individual’s body, sex in the case of Gender Dysphoria, “alien” appendages in Body Integrity Dysphoria.
  • Denial of any claim that the flaw does not exist, no matter how much evidence is presented.
  • An obsessive frame of mind, in which the delusion becomes the central, controlling factor of existence.
  • Depression and anxiety in response to the obsession.
  • Efforts to “correct” the problem by means of body mutilation.
  • Resistance to any other type of solution.

Clearly, Body Integrity Dysphoria is essentially identical to Gender Dysphoria, the only difference being the body element(s) acting as the focus.